D-Rank Guild Leader of the Number One Guild – Episode 12
I had been left alone on the picnic mat. I didn’t have the ability to leap into the trees like Jio, and the wolf drawing terrifyingly close was baring its fangs.
Its maw looked large enough to swallow me whole.
“Rudel, dodge!”
Ririt thrashed about, but Jio’s arm wouldn’t let her go.
Jio stood on a branch directly above my head, watching with utterly flat eyes just before I was pounced upon.
‘Right, he doesn’t care whether I get eaten or not……’
I have to dodge on my own. Yeah, a team leader has to handle everything himself.
Just as the wolf’s gaping maw was about to snap down on me, I rolled to the side and barely evaded it.
The wolf, unable to control its speed, shot past and struck our food basket. At the same time, Jio shouted.
“My sandwich……!”
Me < sandwich?
Jio’s eyes, which hadn’t even twitched in the face of my crisis, went wide.
Right then, the wolf came to a halt, braking so hard its paws carved deep prints into the ground.
And just as it changed direction to charge at me again, Jio dropped down from above onto the charging wolf and latched on.
“Rudel, what is that?”
Ririt cried out from the treetop.
“Can a wolf even be that big?”
The wolf’s eyes were blood-red. It was restless, drooling, and aggressive, as though it had contracted rabies.
Jio was impressive, too. To think he could cling to such a rampaging wolf using only his leg strength.
Soon, muscles bulged in his burly forearms as he dug into the wolf’s nape and began to choke it fiercely.
*Thud!*
The next moment, the wolf staggered and slammed its back against a tree. Jio took the full impact of the blow and was thrown off.
Perhaps because he was hurting, a growl even escaped Jio’s throat. He glared at the wolf with eyes twisted in fury and called up his inventory.
“Rudel, should I kill it?”
A sharp, arm-length jungdo appeared in his hand.
That was when I realized something and shouted urgently.
“Don’t kill it!”
This wolf wasn’t some beast spawned in the field.
This was a character. In other words, a person.
Jio and Ririt were both surprised.
“What?”
[Ability Class] Switch
[Unique Ability] Wolf
[Potential Rank] A+
I already knew. I knew about this form of unique ability.
The last ability class among the three categories of unique abilities.
The last one besides ‘Pure Nature’ and ‘Soul’ was ‘Switch’—in simple terms, a transformation (Switch) ability.
A character transforms into the form of a specific animal, possessing superior physical abilities and resistance.
I’d heard that according to the lore, its growth potential is proportional to its size. So a wolf this large must possess unrivaled potential.
Besides, its starting rank is A+. His condition looks a bit strange, but he’s quite attractive in his own way.
Let me see this character’s name.
[Name] Unhareu
Unhareu……?
The tall, elegant man who had approached me back then?
……Why has he become an insane beast and is wreaking havoc here?
An animal transformed by the Switch unique ability can’t speak like a human because its oral structure changes, but of course the original character’s intellect is still alive inside.
No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason for Unhareu to suddenly rush over and attack us.
Even though we were talking, he made no attempt to communicate whatsoever and charged at us as if he had completely become a beast, which means something is wrong……
Taking advantage of the brief standoff, I quickly spoke to Unhareu.
“Hey, this isn’t normal right now. I don’t know what it is, but come to your senses quickly. You don’t want to get hurt.”
He showed no signs of understanding. The wolf panted roughly, letting out a low sound mixed with a growl.
“Should I kill it?”
Jio raised his jungdo as if there were no reason to hold back any longer. But my thoughts were different.
“I’ve decided.”
“Decided to kill it?”
“I’m going to recruit him as a companion.”
Ririt let out a shrill scream from the treetop, and I could feel Jio’s astonishment. Regardless, I stood my ground.
Just then, the wolf that had been slinking forward in a low crouch howled once more.
And it lunged straight for my throat to bite it off.
Unhareu, that beautiful man, had never been the object of my interest.
He was the most handsome of all the characters I had seen, and it was obvious he would have great influence in a popularity vote, but that hadn’t been enough reason to go out of my way to recruit him.
But to think he possessed such a strong Switch ability yet had the huge flaw of being unable to control his reason.
Normally, Jio’s reaction would be the common one.
Even if all the characters were fond of Unhareu, seeing this insane wolf form, none of them would want to take him as a partner.
But that was precisely why I could have Unhareu, and why Unhareu could greatly benefit from me as well.
Flaws can be fixed, and unique abilities can be grown stronger.
I like characters who may be lacking now but possess great potential.
I believe the viewers will gradually turn their attention to us effort-type strong ones rather than talent-type strong ones.
The wolf pinned my chest with its front paws and knocked me down.
Hot, heavy breath puffed out right in front of me as terrifying fangs snapped at the air mere inches from my nose.
“Calm down!”
I lowered my voice as if soothing an angry dog, then grew flames in my hand.
I was trying to deliver an even stronger shock with these flames when—
*Wham!*
Before I knew it, the wolf was knocked flying and vanished from sight in an instant.
Jio had kicked the wolf with all his might from the side, sending it tumbling down into the ravine below.
I looked down into the ravine in alarm.
The wolf’s massive body grew smaller as it fell, and I could see it come to a stop far below with a heavy thud, dust billowing up.
By then, the wolf’s body, now looking small, was no longer moving.
I turned to Jio with cold eyes.
“I could have knocked him out! If he dies like that!”
For the first time in a while, I lost my composure and let out a heated voice.
“I get that you were trying to tame him like you brought me out of the forest.”
A miracle that suddenly made Jio look smart.
Jio paused for a moment with an incomparably calm face, then looked behind him.
“Lirit is crying.”
Lirit was sobbing in the tree above. She must have been terrified seeing me nearly get bitten.
Jio’s eyes twisted with distress as he watched her cry. I barely managed to calm my own agitation.
“……I need to go down. Will you come down with Lirit?”
“Okay.”
Having said that, I entrusted my body to the steep slope and slid straight down into the ravine.
* * *
When I got down below, the wolf’s massive body lay where it had fallen, motionless, only letting out shallow breaths.
I circled around to find the wolf’s head.
“Are you okay?”
He didn’t look okay by any means, but I asked just in case he could understand me now.
As if responding to my words, the wolf lifted its eyelids. Its fist-sized eyes were still blood-red, and an incomprehensible madness lurked within them.
But it couldn’t move.
The wolf that had been whimpering in pain suddenly did something strange.
It moved its snout with effort and forcibly leaned against my knee as I crouched nearby, rubbing against it. It let out louder whimpers.
“Is this also part of the crazy behavior I saw earlier?”
Its body was so large that using my knee as a pillow looked terribly uncomfortable, but……
I almost called out Unhareu’s name but barely managed to close my mouth. Outwardly, I wasn’t supposed to know who this wolf was.
It was a wolf that had been trying to rip me to shreds just moments ago, but seeing it struggling stirred a strange emotion again.
Is it compassion? I guess I can’t help but feel pity for a hurt animal.
I gently, very gently stroked the wolf’s head.
Strangely, the wolf seemed to like being touched, letting out a low rumble in its throat.
“Try transforming back into a human now. You can’t? Still can’t understand me?”
Just then, the wolf flinched and slowly exhaled smoke as its form grew hazy.
I watched without blinking, and before I knew it, a blond man appeared on my lap in place of the wolf.
……Huh?
I pushed Unhareu away and stood up.
I can endure an animal using me as a pillow. But not a human.
Unhareu’s appearance was a complete mess. His clothes were torn all over, and he seemed to have lost even the shred of consciousness he’d had as a wolf.
I looked up toward the ravine; Jio was coming down a gentle slope with Lirit.
I gestured to signal him.
*‘We’re going back up, so just come down and carry this man up for me.’*
Jio immediately scowled.
* * *
I found an uninhabited cave and laid Unhareu down inside.
His clothes were in tatters, but no other injuries were visible.
While waiting for him to wake up, I told Jio to go out and play.
Actually, I didn’t really mean for him to go play; I told him to find out what people were saying about the huge wolf if anyone was gossiping about it.
I need to raise this guy’s intelligence somehow, even by making him do things like this.
And Jio brought back information faster than expected.
Rumors had spread that I had subdued and taken away in one go the insane wolf that had bitten three people to death and devastated the forest.
I had unintentionally become known as a legendary Tamer. Though I’m not sure there’s any dignity in it.
The viewers must be enjoying this.
As I sat there, the cave felt quite chilly.
“Lirit, could you warm us up with your warmth?”
Delighted at being able to do something, Lirit stretched out both hands and summoned warmth.
The inside quickly became pleasantly warm.
Actually, if I breathed out flames as easily as taking a breath, it would get this warm instantly, but I need to let Lirit play an active part too.
Even if just to hide my unique ability from being analyzed by the viewers as much as possible.
Round 1 is just a preview for the next round, and I know the real thing starts from Round 2, the Guild War.
So for now, I’ve left even my unique ability untrained and neglected.
Because I need to save what I’ll use for the next round.
Unhareu didn’t move, as if in a deep sleep. Even while unconscious, his features were smooth like a sculpture.
As Lirit’s warmth fluttered like the wind from a heater, the man’s blond hair and eyelashes drifted in the air.
Beneath that, through the gaps in his torn clothes, a slender neckline and delicate chest muscles were fully exposed.
‘……If they held a looks poll, wouldn’t this guy take first place among the male characters?’
Just then, a booming shout came from outside the cave.
“He’s here-! Come out, Leader-!”